Day 11 - TGO Challenge 2015 - Braemar to Broom Hill (NO 281 798 - 700 metres)

 

Date: Monday 18 May

Route: as planned

Distance: 26 km (Cum: 250)

Ascent: 1100 metres (Cum: 9700)

Time taken: 9.2 hrs including 2.1 hrs breaks - (Cum: 85.8 hours including 17.3 hours breaks)

Weather: after early sunshine, a showery day with variety - snow, rain and hail; little wind but below freezing on the summits

Click on the link below (Day 11) for details of our planned route:

http://www.topwalks.com/tgoc2015.html

Our earliest start yet. We left the cottage at 7.15 just as overnight rain was exhausting itself. It started again before we reached Lochcallater Lodge, shortly after we'd bumped into Morpeth (Peter Shepherd) trudging back to his car after a wild night in the Lodge, where Denis Pidgeon was still in residence. Bill and his mate were most welcoming and Sue's tub of shortbread was traded for bacon butties. Richard Fuell was nursing a hangover, having enjoyed a night of revelry. Rosemary was making herself useful whilst Richard sought sufficient feeling in his legs to attempt walking, JJ and Margaret were about to leave; others demonstrated inability to hold their drink. Apparently Ian Cotterill filmed the proceedings. That should be a top seller!

Anyway, we enjoyed our 45 minute sojourn. John S arrived just as we left; we wonder what the first timer made of Lochcallater. If Simon and Kat, who we again thank for the use of their cottage in Braemar, are reading this - Bill sends his best wishes and hopes to see you all soon. He has happy recollections of Simon flying in for a cuppa.

After unexpectedly bumping into Italian pin-up Biagio Pellegrini (not doing the Challenge this year), and despite following a trail of Challengers along the path up towards Carn an t-Sagairt Mor, we saw nobody else all day apart from two folk on Broad Cairn whilst we were nipping between Munro Tops, and Graham Brookes who poked his head into our tent at around 6 pm. He's had a disappointing Challenge summit wise having only been able to summit 18 Munros and Corbetts - more than we have ever done I think.

After easy paths over today's three Munros and three Munro Tops, notwithstanding the hail and snow that turned everything white, the day ended with a tough, bouldery descent from well named Broad Cairn, and after a short stretch of track to get up Sandy Hillock, a landscape of peat haggs greeted us, across which we had to stumble to gain the summit of Broom Hill. I fear there will be lots more peat haggs tomorrow.

A good spot to camp revealed itself just after that, so here we are at 700 metres relaxing in our final wild camp of the trip.

How fast the time flies by! (But who knows when there will be sufficient phone signal to post this entry?)

Today's pictures:
Top - on the sunny approach to Lochcallater Lodge in Glen Callater
Middle - lunch in view of Lochnagar (in cloud) on the descent from Cairn Bannoch
Bottom - ascending Broad Cairn in the snow

There's a slideshow for the day (25 images) - here. Click on the first image, then click 'slideshow'.

Next Day - Day 12